Under pressure by last year's classified leaks of U.S. surveillance, President Barack Obama on Friday unveiled new guidance for intelligence-gathering and reforms intended to balance what he called the nation's vital security needs with concerns over privacy and civil liberties.

In a speech at the Justice Department, Obama sought to defend the need for the government to gather intelligence while responding to protests raised at home and abroad over programs revealed in the leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Editor's note:Meg King is the national security adviser to the president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

People operate computer systems that monitor power grids, nuclear power plants and air traffic control systems and do it through e-mail, company networks and government networks. People write the code that tells one computer to speak with another and to carry out various tasks from financial exchanges to changing traffic lights.

Somewhere in the mass of 1s and 0s, there is bound to be a mistake. One that a terrorist is eager to abuse.

Many information technology experts suggest that terror groups aren’t now - and might never be - capable of carrying out an act of cyberterror. It’s true that terror groups won’t be likely to craft a damaging computer virus such as the ILOVEYOU Virus (2001), The Klez (2001), Code Red Worm (2002), Blaster Virus (2004) or Conficker Worm (2008). FULL POST

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.